We're continuing with our ongoing series on my simple study of Psalms. You can see a copy of the journal here: The Book of Psalms 1-50 or you can find all the resources right here on Women Living Well, Psalms 1-50. I'm attempting to SOAP each Psalm too, though some of them are longer so I will likely only do a selected passage from many of them. [Quick reminder that S stands for Scripture; O stands for for observation; A stands for application, and P stands for prayer.] Each psalm's study also includes a reflection question, which I will attempt to journal an answer to. Today's study is from Psalm 15. There are only 5 verses, so I chose to SOAP them all. Here we go!
S= "LORD, who shall abide in Thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in Thy holy hill?
"He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart,
"He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbor, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor,
"In whose eyes a vile person is despised, but he honoreth them that fear the LORD: he that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not;
"He that putteth not out his money to interest, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved." (Psalm 15)
O= Psalm 15 is simply titled headed "A Psalm of David". Scofield titled it "The man who abides with God".
Psalm 15 is nearly identical in wording to verses 3-5 of Psalm 24:
"Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who shall stand in His holy place?
"He who hath clean hands and a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
"He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation."
There are also similarities to Isaiah 33:14-16:
"The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
"He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that restraineth his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;
"He shall dwell on high; his place of defense shall be the strongholds of rocks. Bread shall be given him; his waters shall be pure."
Psalm 15 is very simply constructed.
Verse 1 asks two questions:
* Lord, who shall abide in Your tabernacle?
* Who shall dwell in Your holy hill?
Verses 2-5 list eleven ways the person who walks with God will live.
Verse 5 ends with a summary that the one who does these things will never be moved.
Cross-reference for "tabernacle" (v.1) -- "I will abide in Thy tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Thy wings. Selah." (Psalm 61:4)
Cross-reference for "holy hill" (v.1) -- "Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion". (Psalm 2:6)
Cross-reference for "walketh uprightly" (v. 2) -- "Whoso walketh uprightly shall be saved, but he that is perverse in his way shall fall at once." (Proverbs 28:18)
Cross-reference for "worketh righteousness" (v.2) -- "Blessed are they that observe justice, and he that doeth righteousness at all times." (Psalm 106:3)
Cross-references for "truth" (v.2) -- "These are the things that ye shall do: Speak every man the truth to his neighbor; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates." (Zechariah 8:16)
"Wherefore, putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another." (Ephesians 4:25)
"Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds." (Colossians 3:9)
Cross-references for "backbiteth not" (v.3) -- "Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people; neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbor; I am the LORD. Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart; thou shalt surely rebuke thy neighbor, and not allow sin upon him. Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people; but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself; I am the LORD." (Leviticus 19:16-18)
"Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile." (Psalm 34:13)
Cross-reference for "taketh up a reproach" (v.3) -- "Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness." (Exodus 23:1)
Cross-reference for "sweareth to his own hurt" (v.4) -- Jephthah had vowed a foolish, shortsighted vow unto the Lord: "If Thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace ... shall surely be the LORD's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering."
As it turned out, it was his daughter who came out to meet him, and "when he saw her, he tore his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! Thou has brought me very low ... for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD, and I cannot go back." (Judges 11:35) Certainly a pertinent example of someone swearing to his own hurt!
Cross-references for "putteth not out his money to usury/interest" (v.4) -- "If thou lend money to any of My people who is poor among you, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury." (Exodus 22:25)
"Take thou no interest from him, or profit, but fear thy God, that thy brother may live with thee." (Leviticus 25:26)
"Thou shalt not lend upon interest to thy brother; an interest of money, interest of victuals, interest of anything that is lent upon interest." (Deuteronomy 23:19)
"He that hath not given forth upon interest, neither hath taken any increase, that hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity, hath executed true justice between God and man." (Ezekiel 18:8)
"In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken interest and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbors by extortion, and hast forgotten Me, saith the Lord GOD." (Ezekiel 22:12)
Cross-references for "nor taketh reward against the innocent" (v.5) -- "And Thou shalt take no bribe; for the bribe blindeth the wise and perverteth the words of the righteous." (Exodus 23:8)
"Thou shalt not distort justice: thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a bribe; for a bribe doth blind the eyes of the wise and pervert the words of the righteous." (Deuteronomy 16:19)
A= Warren Wiersbe summarizes the application for this psalm so well: "God's children have open access into His presence through the work of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 10:19-25). He is our High Priest and Advocate in heaven, and He welcomes us. We come on the basis of His righteousness, not our own. But we had better be sure we have experienced the cleansing of Hebrews 10:22 before we rush into His presence."
"Let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water." (Hebrews 10:22)
P= "Lord, how I thank You for this psalm! Although I seek to walk blamelessly every day, there are those inevitable times when I mess up and do (or more often say) something stupid. I thank You that there is always a way back and an opportunity to start anew. I pray that You will help me to keep short accounts with You and have victory over sin in my life hour by hour, even moment by moment. I thank You for how You will help me, in Jesus' name, Amen."
Reflection question: David lists eleven ways we should live if we want to have sweet fellowship with God.
Which of these stood out to you as something you need to work on in your life?
My response: I began by jotting down the list of eleven ways to live:
🌲 walk blamelessly
🌲 do what is right
🌲 speak truth in our heart
🌲 do not slander with our tongue
🌲 do no evil to our neighbor
🌲 do not take up a reproach among friends
🌲 despise vile persons
🌲 honor those who fear the LORD
🌲 swear to our own hurt and do not change
🌲 do not put out our money at interest
🌲 do not take bribes against the poor.
As for what stands out as something I need to work on in my life, I chose the first way: Walk blamelessly. I seek to do this always, but I can so easily slip up in little things.
Warren Wiersbe explains, "This psalm helps us examine our walk, our work, and our words (v.2). The inventory includes our relationship with others (v.3-4), how we keep our promises, and how we use our money (v.5)." He adds,
"Meditating on this psalm and pondering these 'qualifications' could help us deepen our relationship with God."
And there is our Sunday Scripture! Hope it was a blessing!
